360 Video: The Transformative Experience

360° Video:

The Transformative Experience

The New Frontier

Innovative technology is shaping newsrooms of the future and as a result, is fundamentally changing the way that journalists and foreign correspondents produce and tell stories. Now more than ever, we have a bouquet of storytelling options that have the potential to create presence and empathy in storytelling, bringing viewers, users, readers, and subscribers deeper into the stories than ever before.

The act of journalism is to bear witness to scenes and events, record those findings, and then ultimately describe it to us, the consumers of news and media. With the magic and growth of 360° video, anyone can now bear witness for themselves. You can be there for when a bomb sets off in Yemen, or get an inside look on a campaign trail, presenting the viewer with a different aspect of political reportage than what we are used to. You can step foot in a refugee camp in Syria, or watch a volcano erupt right in front of your eyes! The 360° video experience allows users to view and upload video recordings through the use of a special rig that holds multiple cameras in every direction.

In other words, 360° puts the viewer at the center of the story, in what appears to be complete and utter control…but are you really? The growth of this new media tool allocates for new ethical dilemmas and problems to arise, despite its’ unique capabilities.

Introducing 360°

The Empathy Generating Tool

Since 2015, major companies such as Facebook, Youtube, Google and Samsung have launched a new major communication platform to view content. In November of 2015, Mark Zuckerberg stated, “We think people will share a lot more 360° content in the future, especially as technology makes it easier to record it themselves. We’re excited you can discover them on Facebook.” On July 25, 2015, Facebook unveiled the blueprints to build the Surround 360° Camera. In 2016, the New York Times unveiled its first 360-degree video experience on its mobile website after its huge success for their NYTVR app launched in Fall 2015. This decision to push to use this content in journalism was in part due to the decline in print sales. The Times has always been ahead in visual digital storytelling, and in this day and age where news is shown across multiple platforms everyday, it will be interesting to see the production value, content quality and ethical discussion this new medium will have on its users and creators.

One of the most compelling aspects of 360° content is its power to transport viewers to a place they could not or would not go. 360° puts the viewer at the center of the story. If it’s done well, it creates a feeling of presence . You truly feel like you’re there. There is no comparison to 360. There’s a possibility of increasing that empathy, because of the immersion you’re experiencing physically and emotionally with this new journalistic, visual storytelling tool.

It is imperative to note that a good story is one that takes advantage of the medium’s strength. Always ask yourself these questions before deciding if you want to shoot something in 360°:

Examples of 360° Stories

The Good, The Bad, & The Uhh… Is That Ethical?

In order to become a professional and trustworthy journalist, one must study and understand the ethical implications of the medium they’re working in. The public’s trust is fragile, and in cases where the public must rely on factual information in order to make informed decisions, it is imperative that the information we as journalists feed to the public is verifiable. While it may be impossible to show “the truth” in a single photograph or story, it’s assumed that a “reasonable person” would be able to determine the truthfulness of an issue by relying upon the visuals. This is the power of photography. It’s power is this discerning depiction of reality that can change a cultural perception and understanding of an event or person.

Could 360° video be the future of animal activism? It’s possible. But, did the journalists adhere to his/her professional standards? Absolutely not. When professional ethical standards and personal ethics are in conflict on the job, professional ethics should take precedence. Using celebrities to endorse their work, this footage was so disturbing that an entire debate regarding, “VR ethics and censorship of content,” occurred during the Immersive Journalism panel hosted by the Sundance Institute. Due to Animal Equality’s “investigative reportage” I would be curious if they go inside these factories undercover, and ultimately are lying about their credentials. Under the utilitarian perspective, “a journalist is concerned by the consequences of an ethical judgement, and in hopes of achieving the best possible outcome for the greatest number of people.” However, positive consequences for society, to achieve ‘moral good’ for the public, may justify these devious means used in gathering information such as lying about your credentials. Journalists have a special role in society. They are the eyes and ears of the public and we are becoming increasingly dependent upon them everyday for information. If a journalist was to get caught lying about their credentials and who they really are, this would be unethical in their approach and their biased portrayal in the story.

A resolution to this unethical situation is by telling the full story, not by removing the intimacy we gain by watching this with a headset / in 360° video. Many documentaries have been made about the horrors of food production corporations, and many of those are shot with a conventional video camera. The 360° camera allows for viewers to scan across the screen and get a glimpse of everything surrounding the camera. It is the producer and editor to blame for the intentions behind this story.

Some of the ethical dilemmas in this piece is the ‘intended viewing experience,’ which forces the video to turn on its own, and not allowing the user to experience it for themselves. One could argue that this is similar to conventional video formats, where editors sequence short clips together to form a story. Another ethical dilemma is who is the voice of this piece and how much authorship is there between the journalist and the interactive user? We as viewers lose understanding of the important points that a journalist might be wanting to express because we are in charge of the direction. We only listen to what we want to hear and only look at what we want to see.

It is difficult to illustrate historical content and analysis in 360. Stories that have multiple layers, characters and plot lines are complex in nature and even more so when trying to present them in a 360 video format. More examples of stories that diminish the experience are ones that do not utilize the all of 360’s unique capabilities. Stories about a person who suffers from mental illness for example would be a poor use of 360 because the viewer wouldn’t be able to get a sense of the person, however if this story was on a mental institution, place would act as a character and inform the viewer on what goes on within this mental institution.

A Stitch in Time, By Brittainy Newman

Love Across the USA is a community based, nation wide public art project started by internationally renowned Polish artist, Olek. Crochet enthusiasts near and far came out to Rochester, N.Y. to here Olek’s dynamic story and volunteer their skills in creating a large-scale crochet mural in honoring historical women throughout U.S. history, whose work and achievements made it possible for a woman to run for president.

360 Bloopers, By Brittainy Newman

An ethical dilemma in this edit is being mindful of which voice belongs to who. Text is often incorporated in 360 videos to make it easier for the viewer to understand who is speaking, what the story is about and any other information that is significant to the stories that could otherwise not be represented by the visuals. A narrative technique Abbot describes as free indirect style is a method that allows a character to take on the narrative voice, alternating between the narrator informing the reader what the character’s actions are and the characters inner voice. The tricky part for the reader is being mindful of whose voice belongs to whom. “This fluid adaptation of the narrator’s voice in a kind of ventriloquism of different voices, all done completely without the usual signposts of punctuation and attribution” (Abbot, 70). How much of our voice as journalists should be included in the stories we produce and the overall narrative tone?

Another ethical concern with this piece is having to pause situations and acts in order to place the camera, and then run off and hide in order to not be in the scene. At first, the thought of abandoning our camera caused a lot of anxiety. I’m not used to leaving camera rolling in the middle of a public place. What if someone steals it? What if it stops recording? What if the subject moves? What if we’re not getting the shot we need? Slowly walk away, far enough away so that you’re in the background and can find something to hide behind. If there’s no background or nothing to hide behind, keep walking until you find something to hide behind.

Meet The Experts

Interview with 360 Developers, Content Creators & Editors at RIT

Nick Franco begins to check the fit of the hardware for the Facebook Surround 360 Camera.

The Facebook Surround 360 Camera uses a system of 17 individual lenses and smaller cameras.

“Right now there is a lot of 360 content, but none of it is real. It’s a lot of CGI work, it’s a lot of video game-based work. There’s not enough people making artistic work with 360 video. A lot of it is either people experimenting with it with lower end cameras, or high-end companies making their own videos.”

Regardless of what tool or medium you’re using a story is a story and should always be told with honesty and integrity. A professional photojournalist not only has to know and practice the techniques and ethics of photojournalism, but has to be aware of the responsibilities of the profession. This means that photojournalists should be technically competent and able to produce professional quality work. Including an understanding of standards of practice that will strengthen the profession, its credibility and its continued value in our society. These responsibilities can also include ongoing professional development. Awareness is essential because this profession must be respected and supported if the public wishes to know what is going on around the world. Although sometimes demanding, photojournalist put their professional standards and values above his/her job’s standards and values.

Redohl, S., & TwitterFacebookAbout Sarah RedohlSarah Redohl is an award-winning new media journalist focusing on mobile and 360 experiences. Her work has been featured on the Travel Channel and National Public Radio, among others. She has also been recognized as one of Folio: Magazine’s 15 Under 30 young professionals driving media’s next-gen innovation.See all posts by Sarah. (2016, November 04). New York Times launches Daily 360 initiative using Samsung Gear 360 VR cameras. Retrieved May 12, 2017, from http://www.newsshooter.com/2016/11/04/new-york-times-launches-daily-360-initiative-using-samsung-gear-360-vr-cameras/